GAZZA AND GROSS

Paul Gascoigne could have joined either Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur when he left Newcastle United, but it was Terry Venables who lured Gazza to White Hart Lane, with the promise that Gazza would get into the England team if he joined the Spurs. El Tel was right and on this day (September 5th) in 1988, Bobby Robson gave Gazza his first call up to the Senior team! Gazza made his debut at Wembley on this day in a 1-0 victory over Denmark, a few days later.

Paul Gascoigne burst on to the international scene exactly 27 years ago and went on to become an England legend. Having made a name for himself at hometown club Newcastle United, and scooping the PFA Young Player of the Year for an impressive 1987-88 season for the Magpies, he moved to Tottenham Hotspur for a British record transfer fee of £2.2m. Within two months he had received his first call-up from Three Lions boss Bobby Robson, and on 14 September 1988 the 21-year-old made his England debut in a Wembley friendly against Denmark.

Gazza and El Tel had long gone when Christian Gross had arrived in London, waving his underground ticket, claiming it was the ticket to his dreams. As manager of Spurs between November 1997 and September 1998, Gross became the first Swiss to manage in the Premier League.

His Managerial career
1988–1993	Wil
1993–1997	Grasshopper
1997–1998	Tottenham Hotspur
1999–2009	Basel
2009–2010	VfB Stuttgart
2011–2012	Young Boys
2014–2017	Al-Ahli
2018–2019	Zamalek
2019–2020	Al-Ahli
2020–2021	Schalke 04
2024–2025	Zamalek

Bit more like a nightmare actually though, as he flirted with relegation and it meant he lasted less than a season before on this day in 1998, Alan Sugar, flanked by sidekicks Nick and Margaret (know who they are?) called Gross to his boardroom and pointed his fateful finger at the uinfortanue Swiss and growled "You're fired!" Ooops!

September 4 in football history

In 1867, on this date, Sheffield Wednesday was founded, one of England’s oldest clubs, Sheffield Wednesday, was officially established. They went on to win 4 league titles and 3 FA Cups.

1899 – White Hart Lane Opens Tottenham Hotspur played their first-ever game at White Hart Lane, a ground that later became one of English football’s iconic stadiums.

Match Details

Date: September 4, 1899
Teams: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Notts County (then a Division One club)
Result: Tottenham Hotspur won 4–1
Attendance: Around 5,000 spectators
Gate receipts: £115 

First Competitive Match

Date: September 9, 1899 (five days after the opener)
Teams: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Queens Park Rangers
Result: Tottenham Hotspur won 1–0 

In 1960 – Real Madrid thrashed Peñarol (5–1) in the first-ever Intercontinental Cup. They beat Uruguay’s Peñarol in front of nearly 100,000 fans at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Jimmy Dunne (1905) – Northern Irish striker, famous for his goal-scoring in the 1930s. Marc Degryse (1965) – Belgian international with 23 goals in 63 caps. Maik Taylor (1971) – Northern Ireland goalkeeper. Tomáš Hübschman (1981) – Czech Republic defender. Raúl Albiol (1985) – Spanish centre-back, World Cup & Euro winner.

2006 – Giacinto Facchetti died.

The Inter Milan and Italy icon, famed for redefining the attacking full-back role, died at 64. He won Euro 1968 and was runner-up in the 1970 World Cup.

THE GUNNERS, ROONEY AND BAKE OFF

3rd September 2006 After Arsenal had played just one Premier League match at the Emirates, Brazil played their first ‘home’ match at the stadium, beating Argentina 3-0. In future years Brazil regularly played in their adopted home in North London.

Score	3-0 to Brazil
Referee	Steve Bennett
Competition	International Friendly
Venue	Emirates Stadium
Attendance	59,032

BRAZILIAN Goals:

Elano		2
Elano		67
Kaka		88

    

3rd September 2014  England had a dismal time at the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil and when they played their first match after the finals - a friendly against Norway at Wembley - the fans showed their displeasure when just 40,181 turned up. That was a new low for an England crowd at the revamped stadium - but things were as bad on television. ITV showed the game live and it was up against the Great British Bake Off on BBC. Nearly twice as many people watched the Bake Off!    The newly-appointed England captain, Wayne Rooney scored the only goal from the penalty spot. List to date....

1- Harry Kane – 85 goals in 121 appearances
2 - Wayne Rooney – 53 goals in 120 appearances
3- Sir Bobby Charlton – 49 goals in 106 appearances
4- Gary Lineker – 48 goals in 80 appearances
5- Jimmy Greaves – 44 goals in 57 appearances
6- Michael Owen – 40 goals in 89 appearances
7= Sir Tom Finney – 30 goals in 76 appearances
7= Nat Lofthouse – 30 goals in 33 appearances
7= Alan Shearer – 30 goals in 63 appearances
10= Frank Lampard – 29 goals in 106 appearances

DEBUT, DEBUT, DEBUT

Well it wasn't quite the exact day but on the 1st September 1996, David Beckham made his international debut against the East European team, Moldova. Only five years independent, Moldova was a young nation, formed at the break up of the USSR and their side very much in its "infancy" too.

Glen Hoddle also made his managerial debut on the day and so did Andy Hinchcliffe of Everton, the first of his 7 caps.

Beckham went on to earn 115 caps, with the odd moment of controversy, but in the Moldovan capital Chisinau (formerly Kishinev) that evening, he was very much part of a dream. The 1998 World Cup was not far away and this qualifier played in front of 9,500 people should have been the start of a very successful run for the footballing artist Glen Hoddle, the juggler Gascoigne and his young pretender Golden Balls.

We all know things didn't quite work out that way, but to distract you from the historic disappointment, name these players below, in the England starting XI.

The game was a bit special nevertheless, and here are the goals. Martin Tyler still on the mic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT2u1mkBA8A

On the 10th September 1997 (SORRY NOT THE SAME DATE!) the return tie was held at Wembley and England won 4-0. Brighton born comedian Tony Hawks (you would recognise him if you saw him) was in a drinking contest with fellow comedian Arthur Smith who bet Hawks that he couldn't beat every one of the Moldovan football XI at tennis. Don't ask!!?? The contest took place and resulted in a book and film titled "Playing the Moldovans at Tennis". The film was released in September 2012.

A QUARTER OF A CENTURY AGO

I know what I was doing on Saturday 1st September, 2001, 25 years ago. I coached at the local football club in the morning, THEN played cricket "next door" for Farncombe Wanderers CC, (local Hants/Surrey border league) with a chum Richard V. Lewis (a retired Hampshire professional player-and not a bad footballer too). Guess which of us two was a county cricketer?). Lew got a few and I batted for 52, so we were both happy.

Then to cap it all, my dear wife and I were summoned to a friend's 50th birthday party in Farnham, a big affair with a marquee and all those sorts of things. Better still there was a TV on, as we arrived showing Michael Owen's hat trick and England thumping Germany 5-1 in Munich. This was not a valueless friendly but a World Cup Qualifier! Gulp!! We had lost to them at Wembley the previous October, 0-1.

What a day, cricket, Footy v Germany. WIN, big party!! Fizzy drinkies....

In June 2000 the England team had beaten Germany 1-0 in Charleroi in the European Championship Group A, Shearer scored but the group table showed Germany bottom with one draw, us next with that one win. Portugal and Romania both beat us 2-3 and went through. Remember that?

During the rest of the World Cup qualifiers in 2000-1, we drew 0-0 with Finland away, beat them at home 2-1 and beat Albania away. In the next test, Beckham and Scholes scored against Greece in Athens, then came the Munich marvel. What ever happened in that match who knows, but the Germans were clearly not themselves?

Continuing our assault on the 2002 World Cup, having beaten Albania at St James' Park, then came the last crucial tie versus Greece at Old Trafford, yes, Beckham's home and you know what happened then don't you? We then went to Japan and drew with Sweden and Nigeria, beating Argentina. Then came Denmark in the second round 3-0, finally losing to Brazil in the Quarters.

(In October that year  played Slovakia in Bratislava in a European Championship Qualifier, a 2-1 victory)

THE NORTH LONDON RIVALRY

When the First World War ended and football resumed, the Arsenal club found itself better placed than at the start of action. At the end of 1914/15 The Gunners were placed 5th in the Second Division of the Football League, but four hears later, with the help of a very persuasive Club Chairman, Tory MP, Sir Henry Norris, (below) the Gunners were "Up". He had taken advantage of the Division's expansion from 20 to 22 clubs. It had been expected, as in the "League expansions" of 1898 and 1906, that the bottom two clubs in the First (in this case Chelsea and Tottenham) would stay up, while the two top Second Division clubs, Derby and Preston, would be promoted. Derby and Preston's promotions were assured, but there were two places up for grabs. Norris argued that Spurs deserved to be relegated on account of their League position. Chelsea however, did not, as Manchester United would have been in their relegated position in 1915 had they not gained two points from a fixed match against Liverpool.

By arguing for Chelsea, but not calling for the demotion of United and Liverpool, Norris was winning Brownie points for Arsenal. Other clubs were impressed with his powerful contacts and among others, Norris was "close friends" with "Hoinest" John McKenna, President of the Football League!! So when it came for the League Committee to decide who would get the final First Division place, Arsenal won more votes than Spurs (of course!), Wolves and Barnsley who had all finished the 1914-15 Campaign in higher positions. There were dark accusations of bribes having been offered, but nothing was proven!!

Spurs resolved to "obtain by the verdict of the ball what they had been denied by the vote" and that's what they did! By 1920, Spurs were back in the top flight with one of their first clashes with Arsenal at White Hart Lane in 1922, far from amicable....probably accounts for the friction between the clubs these days! I wonder how mant fans realise this?

Spurs resolved to "Obtain by the verdict of the ball what they had been denied by the vote" and that's what they did! By 1920, Spurs were back in the top flight with one of their early clashes against The Gunners! at White Hart Lane!!!! Unusually for that time, two players were sent off. When Spurs scored, the Arsenal crowd got rowdy and several players were injured in a game that was competitive to say the least!!  Fighting continued outside the stadium, so that both clubs were given warnings by the FA, although a report in The Times claimed that "the spectators were almost entirely to blame for the trouble" (now there's a surprise!). A fierce rivalry was born and Arsenal have never been relegated.

The 1912–13 Season: Arsenal finished bottom of the First Division (20th place) and dropped to the Second Division. This remains their only relegation. After the First World War, league football resumed in 1919. Arsenal re-entered the First Division and has maintained an unbroken top-flight status ever since. 

TOUGH START BUT BURNLEY SURVIVE

29th August 1925 After just their first League match Burnley fans knew they were in for a tough First Division season – they lost 10-0 at Aston Villa. Burnley conceded 108 League goals during the season – but weren’t relegated!

  

29th August 2020 Well, you could easily think the picture above is of a pre-match training session at Wembley - in fact it is of the moment when the first major bit of silverware of the 2020/21 season was decided!!! Tragically coronavirus had ensured that stadiums (stadia??) empty of fans would be the norm. That included Wembley for the Arsenal v Liverpool Community Shield encounter. After finishing level at 1-1 the match went to penalties with Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pictured scoring the winner in Arsenal's 5-4 shoot-out victory. Pierre-Emerick Emiliano François Aubameyang!!!! born in June 1989, played for Deportivo A Coruna (born 18 June 1989) and his national side, Gabon. With over 400 goals in his career, he is the all-time top goalscorer in the UEFA Europa League (34) and has the most goals in Europe's top five leagues for an African player, with over 240 goals. He is also the highest-scoring African player in the history of the Bundesliga. Below, with Arsenal in 2018.

This was the first season with the modern OFFSIDE RULE, where two defenders (as opposed to three, the rule before this season) needed to be in front of the attacker for him to be onside; as a result, offensive play flourished, with the number of goals scored in the First Division increasing from 1,192 to 1,703.